


Can't take my eyes off of you

by Jsscshvlr



Series: Quinn-ventures [2]
Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Awesome Michelle Jones, Fluff, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a Good Dad, it's just pure fluff over here as per usual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:22:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26958013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jsscshvlr/pseuds/Jsscshvlr
Summary: When Quinn was 4 Peter took a month off of Spidermanning, thought he could give it up completely for her. Like he thinks he should have done for Gwen, then maybe she wouldn't have died. Gwen would have his head for thinking this way, usually, he respects her wishes and stops himself. However, today, on the anniversary of her death, when he got caught up in a 15 hour hostage situation and had to leave Quinn without him for the first time, he allowed himself to fully succumb to them. She loves May, he knows this, but it’s not the same.
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
Series: Quinn-ventures [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1967248
Comments: 12
Kudos: 42





	Can't take my eyes off of you

Peter’s beaten himself up before, over how he’s handling being a single Dad. He knows he’s too hard on himself and that all that matters is that Quinn is happy. And she is. He knows she is. He just has a hard time remembering when he lets her down. He’s doing the best that he can. But now, at 1 am, sitting on the jet back to New York, he hates himself. His head is buried in his hands, elbows resting on his knees and he fights the urge to cry. He never wants to leave Quinn for Spiderman business, but it happens occasionally. May is amazing, obviously, and helps him whenever something gets a little tricky. It’s not the same, but he hopes it’s enough.

When Quinn was first born, Peter and Gwen talked about how much or little he should do as Spiderman. They had a plan. But 2 years later that plan died. Re-evaluating what matters most to him was difficult. It’s Quinn, he knows that he always knew that. But he has a responsibility and sometimes that comes first. He despises it. Normal Dad’s can handle work and their child, he wants to be able to do that too. 

When Quinn was 4 Peter took a month off of Spidermanning, thought he could give it up completely for her. Like he thinks he should have done for Gwen, then maybe she wouldn't have died. Gwen would have his head for thinking this way, usually, he respects her wishes and stops himself. However, today, on the anniversary of her death, when he got caught up in a 15 hour hostage situation and had to leave Quinn without him for the first time, he allowed himself to fully succumb to them. She loves May, he knows this, but it’s not the same. 

His phone beeping pulls him out of his thoughts. Having been off for over 12 hours, the notifications won't stop going. He tries not to worry, knowing that Karen would have sent through anything urgent, but his mind goes there anyway. It's been 5 years and there hasn’t been an anniversary where he’s thought about anyone other than Gwen and Quinn. Never thought there was a way he could be happy again. 

He was wrong though. Smiling as he sees ‘MJ’ pop up on his screen, he thinks about how much he misses her. How he hasn’t seen her in a few days, and how thankful he is he decided to tell her about Spiderman straight away. He loves her, he knows he does, he’s known since their first date. Quinn was with them at dinner and was struggling to eat her spaghetti. Peter usually cuts it up for her but she decided she didn’t want that. Unsure whether that was to save face in front of Michelle, or because she was growing up, he left her to her own devices. She was very clearly struggling and getting embarrassed, but refusing to let up and ask her Dad for help. Instead, Michelle cut her dinner up, she had lasagna so it didn’t make much sense and it looked awful all chopped up like mush, but she just said it was easier and winked at Quinn. Who, obviously, immediately asked her to cut her spaghetti up too. 

He’s thinking back to their first of many dates and how at home he felt with Michelle so quickly, but he’s so nervous to mess it up. He’s not exactly the poster boy for functional relationships. He’s got some baggage. Quinn is just as attached as he is which raises the stakes tenfold and he’s trying very hard to remain cool and not Parker it up as per usual. He doesn’t want to lose her for him, and he doesn’t want to lose her for Quinn. So he hasn’t told her he loves her yet, pretty sure it would be too soon for her. He hasn’t asked her to watch Quinn alone, fearing that would be too much. They’ve only been official for five months, he can’t ask her to babysit his child. She’d think he’d thought she was  _ her  _ child. Although that’s an internal question that has been going around his mind for weeks now, knowing he has to talk to her about it at some point. Five months is too soon, way too soon.

His internal thoughts about Michelle have halted abruptly because he reads one of the worst texts he could receive today. May has messaged him saying she was called into work and she can’t have Quinn for the whole day. Closing his eyes to breathe deeply in through his nose before he has a panic attack, Peter doesn’t read the rest of the text straight away. 

Someone has his child. A random babysitter. Today. On the anniversary of her mother’s death, Peter isn’t with her. Hasn’t been all day. He knows what this kind of thing can do to children. Knows that Quinn showers him in unconditional love he doesn’t deserve, but this will be too much. The tears are threatening to freely flow down his face and he’s so glad he got a cabin to himself. Scrunching his eyes closed and pushing his palms into them he groans out loud. He hates himself for doing this. Putting Spiderman and other people above his daughter. She’ll forgive him, she’s so much like her mother. But he doesn’t deserve it, and he’ll see the hidden sadness in her eyes. 

They won’t know that she likes to bake cookies in random shapes; dinosaurs, plants, cats. They won’t know she wants to watch a Christmas movie despite the fact it’s mid-July because the only thing she can remember about her mum, is the holidays. They won’t know she’ll want to buy individual flowers in every shade of pink for the grave. They won’t know she needs to sleep with someone today, otherwise, she can’t fall asleep. They won’t know. And he loathes it. He should  _ be _ there. She’s seven, she can’t do it by herself. She shouldn’t have to. 

He feels the jet descending and he knows he needs to pull it together and see who has Quinn. She'll be at their house so he'll have to wake her up to take her home and his guilt intensifies. Unlocking his phone he reads the rest of May's message.

Shit.

She's with Michelle. 

She's been with Michelle since 11:30 this morning and it's now 1:30 am. 

This is what he worried about. Asking too much of Michelle so soon. Now he was going to lose her. She'll realise this was all too much. They barely had time to discuss what they wanted from each other. Deep down he knows she knows he had a child, but he doesn't even know if she wanted them at all. Does she want another one? These are all questions he'll never get to ask her. 

Running from the jet without saying anything to anyone because he’s desperate to get to Michelle’s apartment. He needs to see them. He misses them. He’s so unbelievably sad that he missed their first full day together. He wants to know what they did. Knowing that under normal circumstances he would have been calling and messaging all day to check in and see what his favourite girls are up too. 

There’s no answer when he finally reaches MJ’s apartment but he’s Spiderman, and he knows she won’t mind him picking the lock to get in. He needs to see them. It’s nearing 2 am so he won’t be surprised if they’re asleep. Carefully he opens the door and his heart aches at the sight in front of him. 

The apartment is a mess, there’s paper everywhere, he can smell vanilla but can’t see from where and the television is playing ‘The Holiday’. His favourite sight of all time is on the couch. Michelle is laying down, one arm behind her head, one arm securely holding a blanket over Quinn, who is laying with her head on her chest and her arms wrapped tightly around Michelle. The tears are spilling out of his eyes faster than he can deal with, so he just looks at them for a little while longer. The depth of feeling he has for Michelle is something he can barely think about. She’s got his entire world in her arms. Or maybe the couch has his entire world. He can thank it later. 

Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand he moves to pick up Quinn (does she have flour in her hair?) and put her in the spare bedroom. He picks her up easily, and she moulds herself around him, letting out a small puff of air. Moving past the kitchen counter his eyes catch on something and he goes to take a closer look. There are cookies on the counter in the shape of books, and he cannot contain the love he has for Michelle, so it spills out of him in tears. He tries to keep his whole body from shaking so he doesn’t wake Quinn up, but  _ come on.  _ There are cookies Quinn has made and iced, with a note underneath that reads “love you Daddy, hope work was ok! I can not wait to tell you what ~~me and Mich~~ Michelle and I did today. See you tomorrow.” and another cookie, in the shape of a heart with a note that says “miss you dork - MJ”. 

Sparing another look at the couch, he smiles and moves towards the spare bedroom. He slips slightly because okay it wasn’t a sparing glance, and Quinn half wakes up. 

“Daddy?”

“Hey honey, sorry I’m late.”

“S’okay. Are you okay?”

“Yeah-” he squeezes her a little tighter “-are you?”

“Yeah! I had such a good time with Em, I wanna tell you-” a yawn “-all about it tomorrow okay?”

He nods in agreement, already very excited to hear about what they did. 

She sighs happily and his heart hurts at the earnestness of her voice when she says, 

“I really love her, I want her to stay. Can you see if she’ll stay forever?”

His daughter has always been on the same wavelength as him. 

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Placing Quinn, already in pyjamas, (did he leave those here? Did Michelle buy them today?) on the bed, he tucks her in and kisses her forehead. 

“Night, honey. I love you.” She’s already asleep. 

He’s practically skipping back to the front room because he misses her and to his delight, she’s awake. 

“Hey.”

“Hey.” He says sitting down facing her, still lying down. He tucks some hair behind her ear, it wasn’t out of place but he needs to touch her. He trails his fingers from her ear down the nape of her neck and the length of her arm to hold her hand. 

“Em, I-” he gulps, unaware of how to phrase what he wants to say. Wanting to tell her he loves her, that he’s so thankful for her, that he’d do anything for her. That they want her to stay forever. 

“It’s okay.” She replies, smiling sleepily up at him. She’s so soft when she’s sleepy and he loves her. “How did the hostage situation go?” she asks while playing with his fingers. He hopes she never stops. 

“Good. Good, no one was hurt. A lot of scared people, but no deaths today.”

“Because you were there. You did that. Okay? You saved them. I know you’ve been beating yourself up about this all day, but they’re okay. You saved them. Some children get to keep their parents today. Someone’s wife came home. You did that. Okay? Don’t blame yourself for that. Quinn doesn’t. I don’t. So  _ please _ , please try not to. Okay?” 

He clears his throat while nodding. He’s still mulling over his decisions and this must be clear on his face because she tugs at his hand till he’s looking at her again. He loves looking at her. He loves her. 

“So today-” she starts, eyes smiling as she pulls herself up to sit cross-legged opposite him “-Quinn and I went shopping. Erm, and she picked some pyjamas to wear. For here. If that’s okay? She can take them home if you like, but they have little books on, and we thought it was cute.” So that’s where they came from. She’s looking at him and biting her lip like she’s nervous. He should tell her it’s more than okay. It’s perfect. He loves her. Loves that MJ and Quinn have joint thoughts. That they’re making memories together. But she’s biting her lip and all he really wants to do is kiss her. So he does.

Pulling her forwards gently, hand behind her neck, he kisses her top lip which has the desired effect of releasing her bottom one. She lets go of his hand and pulls him back in with her hands placed on either side of his neck. Her tongue immediately slips past his lips and he should be embarrassed by how loudly he moans into her mouth. But she moves to straddle him so, a win really. His hand slides from her neck to her hip and his other meets it there. Her gasp makes him snap out of it. He wants her. He really wants her, but he wants her forever too. And he has things to say. 

Pulling back he says breathlessly, “Michelle-” she’s looking at him, blushing and wide-eyed so he darts to peck her again and then holds her waist while she tries to chase his lips. She scowls at him. It makes him incandescently happy.

“What else did you do today?” 

He kisses her again. 

“Will you tell me, please?” he says against her neck. She moans and he very nearly gives in. Not entirely sure why he can’t just have this conversation in the morning. But then he sees the TV and the film that’s still playing and he realises he needs this now. 

“MJ.”

A kiss. 

“Please tell me.” He really hopes she will because if she tries to kiss him again, he’ll give in. She can have whatever she wants.

“Erm, well I picked her up from the hospital at like midday? I think. We went for lunch at Gio’s.” He knows Michelle will have had a cajun vegetable panini with curly fries, and Quinn will have had a tuna and cheese panini, will have said no fries and then stolen most of Michelle’s. 

“Mmmm, I had a veggie panini and Quinn had tuna and cheese, and we split curlies.” He adores how much he knows about her now, and how he hopes he has a lifetime of learning more. He runs his hands up and down her hips. She gives him a look like she knows he isn’t slick. He hopes she will be soon. He shows her this by thrusting up into her, just a little bit. She closes her eyes for longer than usual, tensing her arms around his neck, and when she opens them, he can see the depth of desire she has for him. He’s never been so turned on in all his life. 

She leans forwards as if she’s going to kiss him, she gets a minuscule distance away, brushing her lips to his and then pulls back. Eyes glinting. She’s fucking with him, and he loves her. 

“Then we went shopping. PJ’s. I got you some too. So you can match.” He  _ loves _ her. 

Michelle gets uncharacteristically fidgety, like she wants to get off of him, but also makes no moves to do so.

“And, er, then we went to the flower stall.” She pauses like she’s giving him time to figure out what she’s going to say. He does. He’s beyond upset that he couldn’t go with Quinn. With them. Knowing that really, they could go tomorrow and it would be okay. That they go more than once a year. But he’s not mad at Michelle. Could never be anything but thankful that she did this. He’s been thinking about this since he read the remainder of May’s text on the jet and yet he still doesn’t have the words to say. He should have written it down. So instead he lifts his upper body to meet her and kisses her. He knows he needs to vocalise how he feels, but he’s so overwhelmed with the need to show her, explain how grateful he is for her. He doesn’t worship a higher power, but if he did, he’d be thanking them for her.

She sinks into him, relief radiating off of her as she deepens the kiss. But then she pulls back.

“Wait, we did more. Stop distracting me.” She says between pecks. He wants to know everything, so he leans back again. Hands now trailing the length of her thighs. 

She goes to talk again but she’s  _ right _ there. So he kisses her.

“Sorry. Go ahead.” She hits his chest. He grabs her hand. She intertwines their fingers. A team. 

“We made cookies when we got back, and watched, I think, 4 Christmas movies? Baking cookies was so funny, Quinn is hilarious. We kept messing up and we had a slight flour fight but you know. It’s fine, I have a Roomba.” She wiggles her eyebrows and he loves her. He’s utterly gutted he missed it. 

“I videoed it. Erm, if you wanna watch it at some point. You can fast forward it or speed it up. Quinn said some hilarious jokes and I know you get sad when you miss things. So, you can watch it. If you want.” He’s staring, he knows he’s staring. But how can she understand so well what he desperately needs, when he’s never asked for it. How does she just know? 

“And, we drew some pictures. Well, I drew some pictures and Quinn coloured them in. She says she can’t draw well, which is a huge fib but I wanted her to be happy today so I gave in. We drew loads of Spidey’s. Heard he’s a huge nerd though.” She winks at him and he’s ready to propose. “I put one the fridge and-”

“I love you.” 

He’s not written anything down but he feels so ready and he just keeps going. “I wanna love you forever. Everyday. If you’ll have me. I want it to feel new and exciting, but I want you to know it’s bone-deep. It’s been a scarily small amount of time. I know that. I know you know that. But I love you. For everything you are, for everything you do. You- you make me so unreasonably happy, Em. I don’t stop thinking about you. You’re everywhere. I love you with every fibre of my being, to the ends of the earth and the end of my life. I just- I love you.” 

He wasn’t nervous to say it. He loves her. He’s a bit more nervous now. He tends to ramble when he’s off on one and she hasn’t spoken in at least 8 seconds. She hasn’t run away, which is a good sign. Unless she’s too stunned to move? Is he holding onto her too tight? Is it because they’re in her apartment so really he should -

“I love you. I love you back. Sorry, I just. I really love you.” She’s smiling without trying to hold any of it back and he’s not sure when the last time he truly felt this happy was. Let alone on this day. He could spend the next few hours agonising over whether or not he should be with Michelle today. Doing this with her. Telling her he loves her. When it’s a day for someone else he loved so much. But Gwen would tell him too. She would want this for him. He wants this for him. 

So he kisses her. Again. And again. He kisses her until she’s underneath him. He kisses her until she’s reaching to pull her top over her head. She stops kissing him when she remembers there’s another person in the apartment and they’re still in the living room. She kisses him until they’re tangled together in her sheets. She kisses him and it feels like home.

**Author's Note:**

> the part two for M squared aka my favourite murder couple x
> 
> come say hi on tumblr! @i-lovethatforme


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